This invention relates to a single piece bearing which is anchored in or supported from a frame member for the purpose of locating, retaining and bearing a shaft or like member.
With the advent of lighter weight and more compact machines, it is essential that the components of such machines be designed to enable ease of assembly and disassembly while maintaining cost advantages in the market place. As is well known, there are many machines which utilize lighter weight materials of the plastic family in the making of the various parts, especially in those areas where the parts do not require precise dimensions or rigid tolerances. This is also true in the matter of providing bearings for driving members such as shafts which in the past have required precise bearing fits and minimal tolerances to obtain longer life from the various operating elements.
Representative of bearings, bushings and materials therefor in the prior art include Muller U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,136 which discloses an elastic bearing structure having a rubber bushing and a flange with an axially projecting lip, together with a relatively frictionless synthetic material sliding surface. Jorn U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,879 shows a sleeve bearing having an inner sleeve of deformable material with a corrugated cylindrical surface and an outer sleeve of compressible material to fit with the inner sleeve. Fisher U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,960 discloses a self-locking bushing of one piece plastic construction for mounting a rotatable and longitudinally movable shaft, the bushing including a head portion, spaced thinned sections for ease of insertion, abutment elements for retention of the bushing in a panel or support member, and an inner sleeve member for the shaft. Orndorff U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,278 discloses a bearing assembly of resilient construction wherein the bearing surface has strips of elastomeric material between projections and secured by locking bars.